Will Amazon destroy your business, act now.
If you are not yet alarmed, take a peek out from under your mushroom.
In a recent look at this problem, will Amazon destroy your business, I thought about the many Amazon type businesses that are targeting your market.
Amazon is not the only Elephant in the room. Every industry has a predator stalking your income, it happened to me it could also be you.
Who is the enemy of your business?
The enemy is Internet marketing and those that are using it properly are stealing away local business at an alarming rate.
I had a comfortable first page ranking for many years.
In a recent review was alarmed to see the number of paid pop up adds from my competitors, one glance at their site and I was stalked for months with enticing offers.
Yes, when Amazon opens its doors in Australia there will be a rush to buy products from them but for years eBay and Gumtree have flown under the radar as low achievers.
Ikea impacted on the sales of many businesses as did the recent introduction of Aldi to the market. While not in the category of Internet they are stealing your customers as I write.
The medical and Dental industry should well be immune from attack but not quite so. The Health funds channel business to their preferred suppliers leaving the majority to cope on their own.
In the latest Government report, online shopping represented an $18 billion industry and grew by 11% last year.
Is your business impacted?
Purchasing Tyres on line and auto parts provide low-cost options for many buyers keeping them away from your doors.
Pharmaceuticals, Curtains, Furniture, books, electronics, Tools, Toys are all bought on line. Even entertainment is now mostly on line, no more the days of queuing in long lines.
Is the food industry immune, I think not, online shopping is taking its toll on the local supply with the industry giants taking the share.
I could go on with many more examples but have a think about your industry and where the trend is taking it.
What can you do about it, or is it too late?
Most of your business will be a local market and it is easy to find your dominant areas by tracking postcodes from your invoices.
Many of us still like good old fashion service but even that is under attack from the Internet.
On line business reviews can be great but they can also be debilitating to your effort when someone posts a bad review.
Genuine complaints should be fixed before they go to press but there are professional complainers in the market that enjoy the personal destruction of your abilities.
If you get a bad review make sure you get a balanced view from other satisfied clients to load the feature in your favor.
Enter your local directories with either free or low-cost advertising to get at the top of search terms for your area.
This will enhance your SEO and have you listed on page one in local searches.
I recently searched a business and counted over a dozen different local directories.
Keep in touch with your customer base using SMS or email marketing. It works! Ignore this at your peril. More on this here.
Example Local fish and chip shop ( part of a group of three) posts a monthly special by email. I drive past my closest Fish shop which is empty to queue up with my voucher.
Supply friendly service when they are in your doors, treat them like you need them. We all love having a mate in the business.
Last of all, use a backup message service ( Verdi Messaging ) to make sure you never miss a phone call.
You can make a difference to your result but don’t leave it until it is too late.
It’s not too late but you have been warned.
Peter Hanley 1800116116
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